Bean to beats: Coffee-growing tribal women farmers enthral global audience at WCC with folk dance

Tribal women coffee farmers from Kerala enthralled global audience at WCC in Bengaluru with their bean dance. Their performance depicted coffee's connection to their lives, livelihood, culture & cuisine.

A group of six tribal women coffee farmers and coffee roasters from Keezhanthoor, a biodiversity hotspot from Anamalai Cholai of Idukki district in Kerala, enthralled with their spectacular bean dance a large global audience gathered at the 5th World Coffee Conference (WCC) that concluded recently in Bengaluru.

The folk dance of these Arabica-growing tribal farmers is special during the coffee harvest season every year at Keezhanthoor and their performances depict how coffee is inseparably linked to their lives, livelihood, culture and cuisine.

The coffee farmers/dancers, including Mahalakshmi Shivkumar, Mahalakshmi N., Ganthimathi, Gayathri, Palaniyammal and Aruna, also narrated how organically grown and manually roasted coffees in earthenware and ironware using traditional methods and with much care, craftsmanship and love for the classic beverage has ensured better market reach and increased sustainability across the bean’s journey from farm to cup.

“At Keezhanthoor, we have lived with coffee for generations. Coffee is everything for us. It is our livelihood, culture and celebrations. Although growing, harvesting and processing involves a lot of hard work, we enjoy doing it together with songs and dance,’‘ explained Ms. Palaniyammal.

Plantrich, an export house of organic produce, works with various farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and NGOs across the country that support farmers with growing world-class coffees and fetching international price for the commodity. Manarcadu Social Service Society, a Kottayam-based NGO, is assisting a network of over 5,000 organic and tribal coffee farmers in Kerala and another 5,000 small and sustainability-certified farmers in Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Kodagu and in other coffee-growing areas in the country.

These tribal farmers are playing a key role in preserving traditional coffee roasting techniques and are a testament to India’s rich heritage of coffee culture. Their folk performance and narration offers an immersive journey into the heart and soul of coffee craftsmanship, said M.S. Sreekumar, CEO, Plantrich.

“We support coffee farmers by offering fair prices for their products, supplying organic input, building capacity of women farmers, scholarships to children of tribal farmers for education, annual yield bonuses and farming and safety equipment,’‘ he added.